Five Things Nobody Tells You About Freelancing

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FREELANCER TIPS

• Five things nobody tells
• you about freelancing

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Five things nobody tells you about freelancing

• Waking up when you want, working in your pajamas,
  being your own boss and doing only what you want
  to this is the best possible outcome of a
  freelancing career. There are two problems with
  it, however. It doesnt always end up like that
  (and sometimes thats good) and getting there is
  extremely tough. When you embark on the journey
  of freelancing, there are some hard truths you
  have to face and decide how to deal with them.
  Here are some of them

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Five things nobody tells you about freelancing
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1) The beginning can be crushingly slow

• Starting out is going to be the most difficult
  chapter of your freelancing career. You need a
  good plan, savings, the right idea and the
  motivation to keep going. Even with all those
  things, it can be hard to not just give up during
  that initial phase. Dont let your romantic ideas
  and visions get the better of you and be at least
  a little pragmatic. Having a financial safety net
  for the first three to six months can make that
  beginning period immeasurably less stressful.

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2) On the Feast and Famine cycle

• Sometimes you will have a lot of work on your
  hands and sometimes youll sit around on your
  work time wondering what to do with yourself.
  When talking about this feast and famine cycle,
  most tips tell you how to get over the famine
  part. More marketing, planning ahead, relying on
  more clients and so on. However, what most wont
  tell you is that the feast period can be just
  as tough, if not worse. Having to say no to some
  of your regular clients, working terribly long
  hours and juggling several deadlines at once is
  no easy task.

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3) Productivity is hard at home

• On a somewhat lighter note, lets talk about the
  myth of working in your pajamas while comfortably
  lying in your bed, your cat purring on top of
  you. In my personal experience, this is one of
  the biggest lies about freelancing. Admittedly
  Im not the most productive person in the world,
  but it is a fact that an environment full of
  working people is more likely to get you in the
  same mood. So, get dressed, have a separate
  working space and take your freelancing career as
  seriously as you would like it to succeed.

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4) Tough decisions and taxes

• To tackle another myth, being your own boss can
  be great and does offer you a lot of freedom.
  However, it does come with great responsibility.
  Every decision or question you might have, you
  have to answer yourself. How much should you
  charge, how long can you take on projects, but
  also how to make a contract or pay taxes
  properly. Seek out local or global freelancing
  communities. The best way to learn how to do all
  these things is to talk to people that have
  already been through them.

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5) Lack of social contact can be tough

• Last, but not least, an often understated
  difficulty of being a freelancer is definitely
  the lack of social interaction. A lot of
  freelancers are lone wolves and that is fine, but
  you might be misjudging just how important the
  occasional chatter with your colleagues can be.
  Everybody needs people to talk with be it for
  distraction, getting new ideas or sharing
  problems. You will have to find a substitute for
  the natural social interactions that come with a
  full time job or you will get lonely.

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